47 Kyoshi Warriors

"So… what you girls do around these parts?"

Asked Sokka as he walked with the best "nonchalant" acting he could, with his arms behind his head, trying to look as uninterested as possible while enjoying the comfortable morning breeze of the island, neither too cold nor too hot.

The girl he had been bothering gave him a side glance as she went around the village observing the situation.

"Not much, we train," she said, using as few words as possible.

He nodded in understanding. "Oh yes, yes… training is very important, the world is a dangerous place, especially for girls…."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Not much," he said, shaking his head, still with a comedic face, "Only that you should probably leave fighting for the men of your tribe… it would be horrible to watch such a cute girl getting hurt."

Oh no... you didn't…

Her eyes narrowed even further, and a dangerous gleam could be seen by anyone paying attention. Sokka, on the other hand, was trying too hard to look cool to actually pay attention to it.

Deciding to give him another chance for the boy to go back on his words, she said, "Don't forget that you got captured by a 'bunch of cute girls. "

Not getting how hard he was digging himself into a pit of pain and regret, Sokka decided to say his piece, "Well, true, but I obviously wasn't trying to fight back... you would be obviously outmatched if I decided to do so… but it can't be helped…."

"Is that so?"

Sokka just shrugged condescendingly and didn't voice his response as he walked out, believing that his awesome skills completely captured the heart of the painted beauty behind him.

As the sun set in the sky, most people prepared to have lunch. Team Avatar, being the respected guests that they are, were invited to stay in a private building for the duration of their stay.

"So… how was your… 'reconnaissance', Sokka?" asked Katara sarcastically.

"It went great, obviously. I met the leader of those painted girls… we had a nice chat. I totally left her impressed." He shrugged with a prideful smirk on his lips.

Both Aang and Katara sat down to have their meal.

"So… you met the girl that captured us?" Asked Aang while wolfing down his food.

Sokka protested. "I already told you this morning they snuck up on me?"

"Right… then they kicked your butt." Katara mockingly added as she grinned at her brother.

"Sneak attacks don't count!" Shouted Sokka.

"It's alright to lose to a girl, you know…." Aang tried to add his two cents to this conversation, failing miserably of course.

"I DIDN'T LOSE TO A GIRL!"

"" Right…"" Both Aang and Katara didn't even bother to look at Sokka at this point and just enjoyed their food.

"Sokka, what's your problem? Eat!" said Aang

crossing his arms, to which Sokka replied, "Not hungry."

"But… you are always hungry!" The Avatar's eyes went wide with surprise.

Mumbling some stupid words to make himself feel better, Sokka sat down at the table and started eating the food. "Hmm… this is tasty!"

As the hours passed, eventually, Aang was seen by the waterfall where a poor painter tried to paint his legendary self, only to start over and over again as more little girls of the Aang fan club decided to pop up every few seconds.

Katara spent her time on the island researching the history of Avatar Kyoshi. It was a very interesting subject, and she thought this might also be useful in the future. While Aang was busy doing Aang things, yes, Aang things… not Avatar things… at least she hoped not all Avatars behaved like that.

As for Sokka, well, he was sulking while walking around the village, grunting to himself. "I can't believe I got beat up by a bunch of girls."

After some time, the Water Tribesman teen found a few secluded houses in a corner, two in specific.

One was big and surrounded by a few unique-looking trees with pink colored leaves that he didn't find anywhere else in this village so far, while the other one was a rather small yet well-preserved shack, but with one look one could notice that it was an abandoned house, no one lived there.

Peaking at the medium-sized Dojo-style house, he could see six painted girls in training, performing a routine with fans in perfect unison. He smiles smugly and enters the place.

"Sorry, ladies," he said condescendingly, instantly attracting the attention of all the girls inside. They all stared at him with deep frowns on their faces. "I didn't mean to interrupt your dance lessons," he adds while stretching his body. "I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout?"

The one girl with black garments underneath her armor, the same one that he was bothering earlier today, stared at him warming up and grinned. "Well... you are in the right place, also sorry about earlier… I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar."

"It's alright," he shrugged, mockingly suppressing a laugh while speaking. "I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing that you guys are a bunch of girls… I will make an exception."

That made every Kyoshi warrior in the vicinity narrow their eyes and grin at him. Still, the girl in the black kimono, Suki, was the one who voiced their reply… although sarcastically.

"I should hope so. Such a big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance…."

"True true…" He nodded sagely, adding a smirk. "But don't feel bad. After all… I am the best warrior in my village."

Suki leaned towards Sokka. "Wow! Best warrior, huh?" she glanced at all the girls showing predatory smirks on their cute painted faces. "Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a demonstration."

Sokka's eyes went wide upon hearing the unexpected request. "Oh…. Well… I…. mean… I…"

But Suki didn't let him escape. She turned to her squad and said cheerfully, "Come on, girls! Wouldn't you want to learn some great moves from such a strong, dependable man?"

All the girls made their cutest faces, giggling and smiling in agreement.

"Well... If that's what you want…" he placed his hand on Suki's shoulder. "I would be happy to do so!" He tried to push her a bit, but she didn't move a single inch. It was like trying to push a huge rock.

"Stand over there. Now, this may be a little tough but try to block me," Sokka said, trying to defuse the awkward moment from a few seconds ago.

Suki nodded and did as he requested with a bright, cute smile. Once they faced one another, she remembered something and looked at him, tilting her head cutely to the side. "Isn't a warrior's custom to introduce themselves before a duel?"

Sokka raised an eyebrow. 'I never heard of that!' he coughed. "Well, yes, of course!... It's just that I didn't want to overwhelm you, girls, with details…."

Ahem, clearing his throat Sokka introduced himself. "I am Sokka, Leader of the Warriors of the Southern Water Tribe"

The moment that he said the three final words, all girls in the building stared at him, doing their utmost best to avoid narrowing their eyes again, especially Suki.

"Really? … Southern Water Tribe, you say?" She asked again just to confirm it.

"Yeah," Sokka nodded proudly, "I lead the men of my tribe; we keep women such as yourselves safe at home."

No more words were needed.

…

The night came with a gentle stroke of cold wind. Snowflakes started to fall over the horizon, covering the previously pink-colored trees with a layer of white.

Many tourist attractions around the world would've closed doors for the winter, but the Resort wasn't one of them. Madara's idea of including the hot springs and many other anime-inspired facilities turned this little place into a small patch of heaven, well, at least for those people who were rich enough to pay the absurd prices, and believe me there were a bunch of those.

Madara was sitting on his balcony, drinking sake while enjoying the view with a kiseru in hand, blowing smoke to the wind with a satisfied smile on his face.

'From someone that didn't have anything… I managed to earn everything.'

Looking around, watching his employees with smiles on their healthy faces, dressed in high quality clothing dedicated to keeping them comfortable and warm during this season of the year, he couldn't help but feel … fulfilled…

"Why the need to be a hero? Why the need to be the strongest? People like that will never be satisfied in life. Even if they achieve their goals, they will feel empty until they either die… or focus their remaining limited time into something else."

If someone asked Madara right now what else he needed in life. There's only one word for him. 'Nothing.' He was satisfied with his achievements, with his strength and with his life, a completely different path from the OG Madara that had grand plans for world peace.

"Ye still watching the snow fall? If ye like it that much, we can always travel back to the North Pole… we don't even need to go to the capital."

Said Kaliya lazily as she walked out of his room wearing only a single open red yukata. Her hair was messy, and her legs trembled every so often as she tried her damn best to walk toward Madara.

"You know that I won't be going back to that place just for the sake of watching snow fall… by the way, how was your mission? Didn't have time to ask, considering how you… attacked… me," Madara chuckled as his words left his lips.

Kaliya smirked in response. "Well, what can I say… I missed home," she said while staring at his back. After a few seconds, she quickly continued, "As for the mission, everything went flawlessly. Honestly sometimes I wonder if you have the power to see the future, to be so good at judging things."

Madara said a simple "Hn" and went back to smoke as Kaliya sat beside him and poured some sake for herself, joining the Uchiha as they stared at the Resort under a comfortable moment of silence, enhanced by the clicks of cups and the shishi-odoshi's (Deer-scare) bamboo.

After a long time of enjoying the view, Kaliya had to ask, "Ye seem very happy today, something happen?"

"Well… I ratted Jackie to Nari while you were gone…."

The Waterbender's eyes went wide. "Oh… poor bastard… we might need a new dog for the house now.."

Madara couldn't help but laugh "..Aye, aye… but I also feel like something good happening tonight. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly… but it feels like one of my legendary plans finally paid off."

Kaliya raised a single eyebrow, not quite sure how to reply to that, but after a few seconds, she said, "So… why don't we just improve ye night even further?" with a seductive expression while sliding her hand inside his yukata.

"Oh…." Madara grinned, placing down his sake and kiseru. "I would like that…. Round four it is."

"Ye counting?"

"Aren't you?"

"…" that… well…. He wasn't wrong… but that doesn't mean that she has to like it…

As the two entered the Uchiha Manor, the night continued on... a comfortable, sweaty, steamy, and loud night…

A Night that Sokka never made back home…